


Priorities

by moonyandthestar



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Remus has a flat of his own, Walburga Black (mentioned) - Freeform, but to Remus', idk what to tag, sirius runs away, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-28 19:19:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13278186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonyandthestar/pseuds/moonyandthestar
Summary: Sirius runs away from the House of Black. Remus is there to pick up the pieces.~ a oneshot where the boys are seventeen, Remus has a flat of his own, and Sirius just needs comfort.





	Priorities

     Remus Lupin sat on his old, dusty sofa in his old, dusty flat on a late August evening. He was, of course, bundled up in a billowy jumper and sweats- it was oddly chilly for August, but luckily, the werewolf was well prepared- sipping on his nightly tea. He sat next to the arm of the couch, legs tucked under him, book resting on his thigh. He was content. His parents had passed a year prior, in a very unfortunate car accident; though he was very morose, he grimly saw their death as a bit of a silver lining. They had left him all of their wealth (wealth being a loose term, as they weren't rich by any means), so upon turning seventeen, Remus used the money he had received from their will and the revenue he graciously accepted from the buyer of their old cottage to buy himself a small flat in Hogsmeade. It wasn't exactly prime living conditions - he never expected it to be - but it was home all the same.

     Now, the lycanthrope did not have many visitors, this was true. However, he had hooked his fireplace up to the Floo network, in case of emergency. His friends were always welcome at his humble abode, and visited from time to time. Additionally, he expected them to take advantage of his generosity, and stay in his guest room when need be. On that late August evening, Sirius Black really, really needed it.

     Remus was very taken aback when his shaggy haired, aristocratic friend tumbled through his fireplace in a right state. He had many cuts, blemishes and welts from what Remus could see, and his trunk in tow.

     "Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, face contorted with worry. "Are you alright?"

     It was then that Black seemed to have broken. He dropped his trunk and feel to his knees, body convulsing with sobs. His matted, night-black hair fell messily around his face. Remus set his tea on the coffee table and rushed over to his friend, kneeling beside him and placing a hand on his back. When the boy merely shook his head, - if you could call the miniscule movement a shake - Remus wrapped his arms around him, letting him continue to cry into his shoulder.

     Based upon the state Sirius was in, and on the fact that Remus had never seen him cry, Remus had known something had gone very, very wrong. Taking this into consideration, he didn't ask any pressing questions just yet, settling for " would you like to sit down?" Sirius nodded as best as he could, so Remus stood carefully, still holding on to the boy in his arms, and helped him up, guiding him to the couch. He settled Sirius on to the couch as the boy began to contain his sobs. Remus knelt in front of him. He tried to stay calm, for Sirius' sake, but his mind was full of emotions, racing from worry to sadness to anger to fear, in a matter of seconds. "Will you let me clean you up?" Remus asked cautiously, keeping his voice even. Sirius looked up through his hair at Remus for the first time since he'd tumbled in, and nodded. The look Sirius gave him melted the werewolf's heart: it was a look of fear, of pain, of gratitude.

     After promising he'd be back in just a minute, don't worry, Remus stood and went to the kitchen to grab his wand and prepare Sirius a cup of tea. His kitchen was modest- it was just off the living room, separated by only a half wall, with all of your basic kitchen appliances. When the kettle whistled, Lupin poured his friend a cup of tea, stowed his wand in his back pocket, grabbed simple muggle remedies, and set off for the couch. Sirius was sat in the same position as before, tears streaming silently down his face, staring blankly at a spot on the wall. Strangely, Remus felt more crestfallen at this heartbreaking sight than at his parents' funeral. This wasn't a surprise to Remus, however; he'd been pining for the boisterous boy since fourth year. Now, going into seventh year, he felt the same yearning as he had then.

     Remus sat beside Sirius this time, setting the mug down on the coffee table. He faced the disheveled boy, and his heart throbbed as he really saw the amount of wounds that had been inflicted. He had an inkling that these had something to do with the boy's beast of a mother, but didn't mention it. Sirius looked at him, no longer crying, and Remus remembered what he had sat down for.

     He contemplated where to start when it dawned on him that these injuries were more than likely all across the older boy's body. "Sirius," he started, voice shaking slightly, "is there more under your robes?" Again, Sirius opted for a nod, rather than speech. "Maybe we should have you sit on a stool in the kitchen...there's more space and better lighting there anyway. Would that be okay?"

     Sirius stood slowly in lieu of a response. Remus stood as well, lightly holding his arm, to help the raven-haired boy maintain balance. He guided Sirius to a stool in the kitchen, and then went back to the couch to fetch his materials. Upon his return, he gave Sirius a once-over. "You're going to have to take your robes off so I can heal everything," Remus said, his voice faltering. These were certainly not the conditions he wanted  _that_ to happen under...

     Sirius complied, silently fiddling with the buttons on his clothing. When at last he was stripped down to only his boxers, Remus nearly crumbled. The cuts and bruises were raw and puffy; they screamed out all over the planes of Sirius previously perfect body, their anger gashes and marks contrasting terribly with the tone of his muscles.

     "Holy shit, Sirius," Remus whispered, not caring to finish his thought.  _Holy shit, Sirius, what happened?_ His mind screamed, but his mouth did not. Instead, he opted for pulling out his wand and cleaning out all of the gashes on Sirius' body. Remus hummed a bit while he was fixing Sirius, and Sirius quietly sipped on his tea every so often. A moment later, when he was halfway through closing the cuts as best as he could, Sirius reached for his hand. Remus stopped abruptly and looked up to meet Sirius' eyes. Sirius proceeded to give him the smallest, shakiest grin he'd ever given, and Remus was falling in love all over again. If he were alive just to experience the genuine happiness and gratitude behind that barely-there smile, he'd lived a pretty beautiful life. 

     Keeping a hold on Sirius' hand throughout, Remus finished patching Sirius up as best he could. Sirius was now donning a plaster or two, and had cream on his bruises to help them heal, but he still looked like a proper Adonis in Remus' eyes. After more than his fair share of staring, Remus spoke up, wearing a slight smile. "You're pretty messy, huh?" he noticed. "Would you like to wear a Remus Lupin Exclusive?" he joked warily, showing a hand to his comfortable outfit. When Sirius spoke, Remus almost jumped.

     "Would I ever," Sirius stated, his voice hardly more than a whisper. Remus wore a full grin now, ecstatic that Sirius was relapsing back to his usual mannerisms. So, Remus tugged on Sirius' hand and, hands still clasped, they walked to Remus room. 

     Sirius sat on Remus' bed, letting go of his hand so Remus could rummage through his drawers. Remus pulled out a smaller pair of sweatpants (he always lorded his height over Sirius, as he was quite tall and Sirius was not) and a large, cotton sweater bearing the Hogwarts crest that Mrs. Potter had given him last Christmas. He held them out to Sirius, who smiled weakly and hurried to put them on. 

     "So," Remus spoke, "I could fix up the guest room real quick if you're n-"

     "No!" Sirius yelped with a tone of such finality that Remus gave him a very bewildered look. Sirius looked down at his hands and started over, more calmly. "I..I just don't think it's be best if I slept alone tonight, if you don't mind."

     Remus did his best job of covering up his expression of relief, and said, "Of course, Sirius, whatever you need."

     "Moony?" Sirius asked after a beat.

     "Yes?" Remus responded, sitting down next to the boy.

     "Thanks, you know...for-for your hospitality. You didn't have to be so nice, and-"

     "Stop that nonsense," Remus admonished. "You really do not have to thank me, what would you do if your best mate came in, looking a right mess, huh?" 

     Sirius half-grinned, one of Remus' favorite smiles of his, before saying, "Moony, you're a great mate."

     Remus just smiled at him, heart soaring, before going to the living room and getting Sirius' trunk and a glass of water for each of them. When he arrived back in his room not five minutes later, Sirius was already laying under the duvet. "Claimed your own side already?"

     "You know, I'd move, but this is just  _so_ comfortable, and then I'd be uncomfortable..."

     "Shut up, tosser," Remus laughed, setting everything down. Sirius had most of his color back, looking closer and closer to youthful seventeen year old Remus knew him to be. Remus laid down next to him, pulling the duvet over both of them and turned out the light. He faced him then, and sighed. "Get a good sleep, alright? We'll talk in the morning."

     "Night, Moony," Sirius smiled, before drifting into a deep slumber.

\---------

     By morning, the boys had become a tangled mess. Legs were draped over legs, arms were draped over necks and torsos, and neither had had a better night's sleep in years. Sirius was the first to wake, blinking slowly. His first thought was one of panic, but then he remembered that he was in his best mate's flat, and that as of now, everything was going to be okay. He tried to surreptitiously remove his arms and legs from Remus' sleeping figure, but to no avail. Remus opened his eyes and smiled happily at Sirius. He stretched languidly and sat up, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his palms.

     "Sleep well?" Sirius drawled, voice thick with sleep. 

     "Incredibly. You?" Remus mumbled, still in the process of fully awakening.

     "Amazing, considering," Sirius replied.

     This woke Remus up. He seemed to just remember the circumstances of which Sirius was here for-or, well, remembered that he didn't know. "You don't have to tell me what happened, you know-" he began, until Sirius interrupted him.

      "I ran away." Sirius said quietly, not meeting Remus' eyes.

      "Oh."

      "I-I had a bit of a, er,  _falling out_ with Walburga and Orion. They were talking about a 'new act to reinforce blood purity laws' that their little cult was trying to enforce, and I couldn't take it any more. I lost it. I stood up, knocking my chair over, and fucking screamed. Told 'em my best mates were two half-bloods and a blood traitor, and that they were better than the likes of them. Walburga didn't like that," Sirius laughed weakly. 

     "Sirius-"

     "Don't Sirius me. I'm not about to break down all over again, okay?"

     "Okay..."

     "Thank you," Sirius said, and continued. "She slapped me 'round the head. Told me not to go screwing things up right before the betrothal. You see, I didn't know about the betrothal.  _That_ made me sit down.

     "Regulus, however, pulled out the fucking knives. He told them something, something he swore he'd never tell a soul, something I was still figuring out myself. 'Like  _that's_ going to work, mother,' the git laughed. 'Sirius here is too much of a fairy to go along with  _that.'_ " Sirius scoffed, doing a very convincing impression of his younger brother.

     "Walburga looked livid, mate, she went white as a sheet. Meanwhile, I launched at Regulus, calling him every expletive I could think of and hitting him around the head a bit. Mother Dearest pulled out her wand and threw me off of him, told him to go up to his room. I flew into the bookcase- I was bloody scared, Remus! I thought I was going to die.

     "Anyway, the bookcase gave me some nice shiners, but she didn't wanna stop there. Used any harmful spell she could think of, screaming that 'no son of hers would bare such shameful things in pride'. The bitch beat me until I could barely breath, so I apparated to my room, grabbed my shit, threw some Floo powder into the fireplace, and, well...you know the rest." Tears were silently streaming down both boys' faces now, and Remus threw his arms around the older boy out of love and concern. They sat like that for Merlin-knows-how-long; time was irrelevant at the moment. Finally, Sirius pulled his head back and laughed weakly - the laugh came out strangled and shaky. "Disinherited, disowned, homo and homeless...what a list!"

     Remus looked at Sirius in surprise. "No, Sirius, you're staying here...we'll figure things out together, okay?"

     "No Moony, you ca-"

     "Stop it, I'm not letting you do anything other than just that!" Remus declared. Then, after a beat, he said, "Just one question?"

     "Hmm?" Sirius hummed in response.

     "Why-why here? You could've gone to the Potters, they can help you with the official stuff-"

     "Because I really just needed you," Sirius cut in. "I-I didn't want all that attention just now, and James...I love him dearly, he does his best, it's just. He doesn't get it. He thinks he understands everything about having issues from living vicariously through the two of us for six years but...he doesn't. And, I don't know, you listen better. You cut all the dramatics, you know what to do best. That's what I needed. That's what I need.' Sirius confessed, meeting Remus' eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, speaking so loudly without saying a single word. Remus held Sirius' chin between his forefinger and thumb, and slowly pressed his lips to the other's. Sirius' lips were softer than he imagined, warm with love. He pulled back warily, assuming he did something wrong, when Sirius moved with him, kissing him more passionately. When at last they pulled apart, Sirius let out a shaky sigh, full of contentment. "Th-this," he smiled. "I definitely needed this."

     "You know," Remus smirked, "I think I needed you just as much."

     Suddenly, they didn't think at all about what might happen. All that mattered was the present; all that mattered was each other. No, Sirius wasn't going to be homeless. He found a home in Remus Lupin that day, and he planned on keeping it forever.

 

~ ** _the end_** ~

**Author's Note:**

> I know this isn't my multi-chapter fic, I will be updating that soon, I just had the urge to write; this idea popped in my head and was itching to get out. This is unbetaed and very briefly proof-read, so all mistakes are my own and for that I am sorry. Thanks for reading! If you would like to leave prompts for oneshots in the comments, I will gladly write for them.
> 
> ~moonyandthestar


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